1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



nor syrup ever saw the State from which it 

 purported to come. 



Horehound has been disseminated through- 

 out this State by the sheepmen, or, rather, 

 their sheep. The seed-burrs will cling for a 

 long time to the wool, and the seed dissemi- 

 nated over a large area. With the lessening 

 of sheep-herding tiere will be a decadence in 

 the area of the plant, and it will be a poorer 

 source of honey. During the dry seasons 

 horehound has been the means of helping out 

 the season and keeping the bees alive, and in 

 that respect it is no mean honey-plant. 



HOUSE AND FIELD BEES. 



The Age at which Young Bees Take to the Fields. 



BY L. STACHEI^HAUSEN. 



Dr. Miller mentions in Stray Straws, page 

 6, that my figures given on page 925 of last 

 year's Gleanings are not exactly the same 

 as generally accepted by bee keepers of this 

 country, and asks : " Has he good ground for 

 this? " The matter has not much bearing on 

 the subject of that article, and I kept these 

 numbers in my memr ry from the time I was a 

 beginner in bee-keeping. At that time, about 

 35 or 40 years ago. Prof. Menzel had given 

 the figures, and said that we could figure out 

 how many eggs, unsealed larvse, capped brood, 

 house bees or field bees were in a hive, if we 

 know the number of one of them. He found 

 the bee commencing to gather pollen when 18 

 days old, but we shall see what others say. 



Berlepsch found in three experiments the 

 first gathering bees on the 16th day ; a few 

 years later he observed them on the 19th day. 

 Doenhoflf found the 19th day. Others ob- 

 served, probably under other circumstances, 

 the 12th and 14th day. A. I. Root said they 

 will bring in pollen when about two weeks 

 old, but if necessary can go out for it 

 when but five or six days old. This does not 

 agree with Berlepsch, who said that the young 

 bees will have a play-flight not before the 

 seventh day. Another experiment seems to 

 indicate that the bee must be older than 11 

 days under the most favorable circumstances 

 before it can gather any thing. 



The fact probably is, all depends on the con- 

 dition of the colon}'. If comparatively much 

 brood is in the hive during the progressing de- 

 velopment of the colony, the young bee will 

 become a field bee later ; contrary, if the 

 brood is diminishing and no combs to be built. 

 While a good honey flow invites to work, it 

 will commence this kind of work earlier in 

 its life. 



The answer to the question, how old a work- 

 er will get to be on an average in the height 

 of the season, is necessarily guesswork. Men- 

 zel says, as accepted by me, 34 days ; proba- 



bly he guessed at 16 days field work because 

 he supposed 16 days housework ; but I do not 

 know this. Prof. Cook says 30 to 45 days. 

 Berlepsch thinks that, in the height of the 

 season, the oldest bees of a colony may be 

 three months old, and an average of six weeks 

 may be right. 



We do not even agree on the question as to 

 what age the larva will be capped. In Lang- 

 stroth we find 6 days ; Menzel, 5 ; Cowan, 5 ; 

 Vogel, 5. Root says between the 6th and the 

 7th day. Greiner, who made the latest obser- 

 vations I know of, found between the 5th and 

 6th day, and thinks 5)^ about right. 



We see the observations are so very different, 

 probably according to circumstances, that I 

 did not find it necessary to change what I had 

 in my memory, and Dr. Miller will be just as 

 right to stick to his tradition. 



THE HIVE QUESTION. 



In an editorial of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal^ the same article of mine is mentioned, 

 and said I was led to the conclusion "that for 

 extracted hoiaey a large hive is best, and for 

 comb honey a small one." Certainly I did 

 not mean to say this 



For the welfare of the bees and their proper 

 development it makes no difference whether 

 the bee keeper extracts the surplus honey, or 

 takes it off in the form of filled sections. If 

 a small hive is ill fitted in this respect for ex- 

 tracted honey, it can not become better for 

 comb honey. By the present management we 

 can not use the advantages of large hives in 

 producing comb honey, so we can form only 

 one conclusion, and that is, the present man- 

 agement is incorrect. 



The problem is to find out a management by 

 which all advantages of large hives can be 

 utilized, and at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow to get the colony in such a condition that 

 the work in the supers is started at once, and 

 all the honey stored there — that is, to get the 

 brood chamber in the best possible condition. 



Converse, Tex. 



THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR. 



Some Historical Facts in Regard to its Early In- 

 troduction in the United States. 



BY M. M. BAIvDRIDGE. 



J. L. Peabody, of Denver, Col., who former- 

 ly resided at or near Virden, 111., "brought 

 out his extractor in 1870, it having been patent- 

 ed in 1869. I believe this was the first Amer- 

 ican honey-extractor, and perhaps the first in 

 the world, that was ever put upon the market." 

 I find the foregoing statement on page 57, and 

 evidently written by E. R. Root. 



I am pleased to learn through friend Root 

 that my old friend Peabody is still alive, and, 

 I trust, is also in good health. I was person- 

 ally acquainted with Mr. P. prior to 1870, and 

 while he was residing in Illinois. I have often 

 seen the Peabody honey-extractor, but I did 

 not suppose it was " the first machine that was 

 ever put upon the market in the United States, ' ' 

 nor did I suppose friend Peabody ever so 

 claimed it to be. 



